I officially don't have a life. But that's okay; that means you guys get a quicker update! Yay! Now, I'm posting this in advance because finals start this week! (yay or nay?) So, once finals start, I won't have time to update. As usual, I only own those four and the (rather stupid) special ops team. Apologies that this chapter switches locations so often. And I finally have proof that it is not I who writes these stories but some random being inside my head. I only write them down. But there is at least one sentence in this chapter that I do not remember writing.

Thanks to those of you who reviewed! You're my favorites!

Bhel-Elryss: Indeed. All I can say is, at least he gave them the choice. As for the whole Kiyoshi-Kurama side of things, this chapter is very… enlightening.

animegrlsteph: well… are you going to make me die by never putting a comma or a period in your review? You know I love you, right? Y estoy un poco mejor porque come un English Muffin. (Like my Spanglish?) Anyway, it should be obvious I didn't intend for you to die, as this update is coming so quickly and there is another cliffhanger at the end. YAY, cliffhangers!

Kuramasredrose: Yes he does. Glad you like it so much!

Now, onward (Christian soldiers, marching as to war/With the cross of Jesus going on before). Oh, sorry. That's what my sister says every time I say onward.

Yusuke and Hiei just stared at one another for about half a second. Then they both took off in the same direction, leaving Akiko attempting to block her eyes from the dust they kicked up.

They were both running full speed toward the place they knew Kurama had been training Takeshi and Kiyoshi. Because two S-class auras in that direction was not something they could have explained.

Kasumi and Akiko were both alone. Each of them had felt a blast of aura, followed by a second of equal strength. Both Akiko and Kasumi had lost their teachers when they had gone to investigate. Upon feeling the second aura, Kasumi had begun running toward it, despite Yusuke's orders.

Because what they realized now that they somehow hadn't before was that the first aura was Kiyoshi's. And it was demonic. Now that they thought about it, however, this had happened before. In Mizuko's castle and again in Kurama's obstacle course. But both times they had been too stunned by his actions, as well as the sheer amount of power, to really register what kind of power it was.

Now they were left wondering what the hell was going on.

A half-day's travel away, nine people had surrounded what seemed to be an impenetrable forest. When they felt the auras of Kiyoshi and Kurama, they all turned to their captain. The amount of aura they were sensing was not astonishing in itself, at least not after what they'd learned of class S demons. What astonished them was that it could be that powerful at this distance.

Their captain paled visibly, braced himself, and said, "I'd bet anything that the ones we are after are the source of that. Let's go."

Takeshi had dropped his aura sword when Kiyoshi's aura had hit him. Kiyoshi was never a fun person to be around when he snapped like this. Takeshi's sole consolation was that the anger wasn't directed at him this time. Because experiencing that anger firsthand was the very opposite of fun, and Takeshi didn't envy Kurama one bit.

The demon in question had merely raised his eyebrows in surprise and said to Takeshi, "I suggest you run as far as you can as fast as you can. I have no idea how this will turn out." But the sudden increase in Kurama's aura left a stunned Takeshi unable to move. He could do nothing but watch as Kurama stared Kiyoshi down.

The older demon—was Kiyoshi actually a demon?—seemed almost unnaturally calm. "Kiyoshi, calm yourself," he said, "I meant nothing by my comment. I could never kill someone specifically for the reason that they were my enemy's mother. Not anymore. I simply needed to say something to make you mad. To set this off. Now I have. I swear, I will never hurt your mother." His words were reassuring and Takeshi watched as Kiyoshi froze. His aura then seemed to draw back inside himself, finally reduced to being masked by his purely human energy. He stood completely still for a moment then He stood still for a moment, then turned and walked away without a single word.

Suddenly Yusuke and Hiei appeared, only soon enough to see Kiyoshi's back retreating into the forest. "What just happened?" Yusuke asked after a few minutes.

Kurama reigned in his aura, masking its true extent. "I honestly have no idea. But I especially can't figure out what made him walk away."

"What did you say to him?" Kasumi asked, arriving to hear that Kiyoshi had walked away.

Kurama looked at her, suddenly aware that, for his own reasons, Kiyoshi had opened up to her more than anyone else. At least, anyone else currently present. "To make him mad or to make him calm?" he asked her.

"Both!" Her voice was sharp, but Kurama could tell it was because she was worried about her friend.

"I was attempting to get to the root of his pain and the root of his power. The thing that set him off was me threatening to kill his mother. Because that was my weakness, that's where I started." He stopped to listen to Kasumi for a moment.

"No," she moaned, "Worst. Idea. Ever." Realizing Kurama had stopped, she waved her hand, signaling him to continue.

He did, slightly unnerved by her reaction. "To calm him all I really did was tell him I'd only said it to get a rise out of him and I swore I wouldn't hurt his mother."

"You didn't. Please tell me this is some twisted joke you and Kiyoshi concocted and you don't know the whole story. Please, please, please tell me he didn't walk away because you said you wouldn't hurt his mother."

"I'm not lying to you, Kasumi, nor am I playing games." The look of pure horror on Kasumi's face when he said this made Kurama even more nervous. "What is it, Kasumi? What did I say?" he demanded.

She bit her lip, unsure if she should tell him. After a few tense moments, she reached her decision. She looked Kurama in the eyes as if accusing him of some unknown crime and said, "His pain is rooted in the fact that, when he was little, he lost control of his plants and killed his mother in an attempt to ward off a demon that was attacking him. Are you happy now? You have successfully discovered the reason for his pain and drawn out his power."

The truth and anger in her words and eyes made Kurama's eyes widen as he realized the possible impact of what he had done.

"We need to find him," Yusuke said, "We can't let him just wander around alone. Not in Makai."

"We can." It was Hiei who contradicted him. "If his life is truly in danger, that demonic aura will kick in. And that aura will save him if it becomes necessary. It is on par with Kurama's. And, emotionally, he's unstable right now. This human girl is the only one who won't set him off. And even she might, but she'd be no match for him."

As Hiei's reasoning sunk in, Kasumi nodded. With that, Hiei disappeared to find Akiko and the others slowly started back towards their camp.

A bit past midnight, Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke stood alone around a fire still alight only by Hiei's encouragement. Kiyoshi had not returned and the others had fallen asleep. In Kasumi's case, it was a fitful, restless sleep, but she was oblivious to their conversation nonetheless.

Staring into the flames Kurama asked, "What could be the explanation for this? He's supposed to have retained his humanity."

Yusuke's answer was slow, and carefully worded for once. "He is human. His aura was human when he left that clearing. But I have no explanation for it."

"Didn't you feel it when he overcame your plants?" Hiei asked suddenly.

"No. I was too preoccupied with the fact that they had given control over to him to give much thought to the kind of aura they had given control to," Kurama muttered.

"His aura was almost identical to yours, you know," Yusuke said. "The strength, too. As if you were facing off with yourself."

"Facing off with… Could that even be possible?" Kurama seemed to have been struck by an idea. "Is it at all conceivable that I was facing off against myself?" The looks he received told him quite clearly they wondered if he'd gone insane.

"No, think about it. Those demonic genetics are an exact copy of mine. As far as I know, no one's ever discovered where aura is produced. What if it's in the DNA? Those replicas could conceivable mimic mine, no matter the distance. That would explain the aura type as well as output." Kurama paced back and forth, talking with his hands. "Also, since he is human, they would only manifest in times of dire need. Or anger. And since it is essentially my aura, my plants could have temporarily confused him with me. It all makes sense!"

Yusuke and Hiei didn't respond for several moments, although neither could see any weak points in Kurama's theory.

Then this epiphany began to truly sink in and Yusuke opened his mouth to respond. But Kurama and Hiei never found out what he was going to say, because nine people suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

None of them was Kiyoshi.